The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Sandeep Rai Chamling of PandoraBiz was detained by the South Thimphu police towards the end of last week based on a complaint by Kezang Choden who had given him Nu 9,162 for USDT 10 tether and promises to teach her trading, which did not happen.
The police have taken a few more statement from other victims that were deceived by Sandeep.
One such statement by Ugyen said, “After completing my Class 12, I was seeking opportunities to build my career. During that time, I frequently came across Mr Chamling’s videos on Facebook, where he showcased his success and lifestyle through trading. His videos inspired me, and I contacted him through various social media platforms. Our conversations went well, and I decided to join his mentorship program.”
Ugyen further said, “Since I was very eager to learn about cryptocurrency, Web3, and trading, my parents borrowed money from our relatives to pay for the mentorship. However, after joining, I was informed that most of his training materials were only available through an application called Pandora Biz App. I initially believed that the videos would be free for paid mentees, but to my disappointment, I was required to pay an additional amount to access them. This became financially burdensome.”
Ugyen said that during his mentorship, he discouraged them from watching other online videos, claiming they were ineffective.
“However, when I later watched YouTube tutorials, I found that many lessons were similar or even clearer than his. He taught us only one method of earning free Bitcoin, information that was already publicly available on YouTube.”
Ugyen said he introduced them to the Quotex App, showing that he earned USD 10 –12 per trade, but in his social media videos, he claimed to earn USD 250 –1000 from other platforms. This was misleading and disappointing for students like him who had invested in his mentorship.
He also said, “Additionally, he uploaded videos about new trading platforms only after one of his mentees publicly accused him of scamming. Since purchasing the mentorship, I have received very little support, as he rarely replied to messages, and his promised live sessions were either delayed or conducted only once, which I could not attend due to technical issues.”
Ugyen said about a month ago, he gave him (Sandeep) feedback during a TikTok live stream, explaining that the videos on his app were difficult for beginners to understand. He assured him he would follow up, but there was no response or improvement since then.
“Furthermore, when mentees offered suggestions, he often spoke rudely, discouraging us from continuing. Later, he disabled the group chat feature, allowing only admins to send messages, which further limited our learning experience,” Ugyen said.
Ugyen said that instead of focusing on improving the mentorship, he appeared more interested in recruiting new members rather than helping existing ones.
Ugyen said, “As a result, I lost all hope of learning about crypto and trading. The financial loss has been very difficult for me and my family, as the mentorship fee was paid through borrowed money.”
He requested the Thimphu police to investigate the matter and help him recover the amount he paid for the membership.
Meanwhile, the number of complainants to the Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (CCAA) has increased to 44 with the amount sought as compensation increasing to above Nu 200,000.
The nature of the complaints are all similar saying that despite paying the fees, Sandeep did not provide them the promised training and mentorship for trading and also earning cryptocurrency and they now want their fees back.
CCAA had asked Sandeep to come and do a presentation on Wednesday this week, but he did not show up as he had been detained by the police.
CCAA is already in the process of writing a report and the aim eventually is to get a refund to the complainants. It is also trying to see if there are pyramid features and the commission and referral system, etc.
CCAA is likely to apply false promises and misleading representation among other violations.
While the RBP will pursue the criminal aspect of the case, CCAA will look at the civilian recovery part.
A source said the Royal Bhutan Police (RBP) detained him as part of its investigation and will also be seizing his electronic devices among others. RBP will be exploring deceptive practices, online gambling and other possible charges under the penal code. RBP is also looking at his bank statements and transactions.
The Bhutan Qualifications and Professional Certification Authority (BQPCA) had also planned to call Sandeep and tell his trainings are not allowed when he was detained. They plan to call him once he is released.
Meanwhile, The Bhutanese has looked at the dubious ‘trading videos’ of Sandeep in detail (see separate story here).
